that was supposed to protect us and keep us from the blowout obviously had failed. and now the emergency disconnect to get us away from this fuel source has failed. we have no communications to the b.o.p. >> the situation that's around, there's a lot of people jumping in the water. [indistinct radio chatter] >> and i see one of the lifeboats in the water, and it's motoring away from the vessel. i looked at the captain and asked him. i said, "what's going on?" he said, "i've given the order to abandon ship." >> every sunday they had practiced lifeboat drills and the procedure for making sure that everyone was accounted for. but in the panic, all that went to hell. the lifeboats were leaving. they're leaving without you? >> they have left, without the captain and without knowing that they had everyone that had survived all this onboard. i've been left now by two lifeboats. and i look at the captain, and i said, "what do we do now?" by now the fire is not only on the derrick. it's starting to spread to the deck. at that point, there were several more explosions, large,